New Beginnings 2: Suspicions
by marseelee
Summary: Sequel to New Beginnings. After Max and Iggy move to the new house with Jeb and his girlfriend, Max knows something is not right. With her suspicions growing, Max's unease grows worse than ever. Can she get someone to believe her before it's too late?Fax
1. Road Trip

**What's up guys? This is the same chapter that's still in New Beginnings, but I wanted to make it be the first chapter of the sequel. **

Debra's car lurches grudgingly across the freeway, trying to reach at least ten miles below the speed limit. Fang and Debra are driving Iggy and I to our new home-sweet-home. Complete with new half siblings as well. Who knew, right? Well you can imagine how I reacted to that. Not pretty. And Jeb's the one who's going to pay for it.

It turns out him, and his live-in girlfriend, have three kids: one's 7 months old – which might explain why Jeb left 10 months ago – then there's a twelve year old girl, and lastly, a boy Iggy and I's age, a few months younger. It _disgusts_ me. Jeb has been cheating on our mom for years. Sixteen years, almost seventeen now. I don't think I've ever had this much hate for Jeb before, even after he left us.

I'm steaming on the inside, in the car, leaning against Fang who's stroking my hair. Iggy fell asleep a few minutes ago, thankfully. I think he took the kid news worse than I did, but I haven't been able to tell, due to his storming off when we heard the news. He hasn't said much since then.

"How much longer?" Fang asks his mom gravely. I can tell he's been worried all morning about us leaving.

"I'd say about . . . 3 hours?" she says, unsure, looking under the window at a sign that says "_230 miles to Houston_"

I sigh, and stare out the window, thinking of the last year of my life. Was it just 5 months ago, when I was kidnapped by my ex boyfriend? 6 months when I had met Fang? Since then, my life had been almost perfect. How does someone's life change so drastically in a few days?

I must've fallen asleep, because the next thing I know, Fang is shaking me awake, telling me we're at a gas station. I sluggishly drag myself to the bathroom inside the store.

After I'm finished, Fang is waiting outside the door, and he grabs my hand, pulling me into a quick kiss. I smile up at him and go to get some drinks for the rest of the ride, dragging him along with me. I grab a Coke, hearing a group of guys laughing loudly at something. As Fang and I are turning a corner, I see four rough-looking teenage boys laughing about something, a few of them grabbing things off shelves. Most of them have visible tattoos on them and they're all pretty big, and I imagine they're about me and Fang's age. One of the guys is fingering a six pack of beer which I know he's definitely not old enough to buy.

As we walk past them, another guy catches my eye and something in the pit of my stomach lurches in a bad way. He has a blank expression on his face, but something about him just does not seem right with me. I snuggle up closer to Fang as I notice some of the other guys are staring at us, and Fang puts his arm around my shoulders bringing me as close to him as possible. We go up to the counter and I hear their conversation continue like nothing happened.

"Don't even get me started about Lissa, man." I hear one of them say. "She is so hot. What I would do to fuck her. . ." The clerk at the checkout we're at glares at him for his vulgar language, and I feel Fang's arm tighten around me. I look up at him, not really worried; I've seen these types of guys at our school. They're harmless.

"Yeah she is," another responds, "but she's a bitch. You can't get her to shut up for _anything_."

I ignore the group of guys, annoyed by their no-life conversation, while the clerk starts putting our drinks through the scanner.

As we're heading out the store, the guy that had caught my eye before looked at me again; he had an unreadable expression on his face, but I looked away, sort of creeped out. What the heck does he want?

Fang visibly relaxes as we get outside, and goes, "Those guys looked like trouble." He glances back at the store, glaring.

"Really? I didn't notice," I say sarcastically, smirking up at him, but my smile disappears. He's not amused.

Wearing at grim expression he says, "Not funny. There's something about them. . ."

I grab his arm, giving it a squeeze. "Its fine, Fang. They're harmless. All talk, no action."

He nods absentmindedly, and we get into the car. Iggy is slumping against the front passenger seat, looking exhausted.

I rub his back in a way that I hope is comforting, and say softly, "What's up, Igs?"

He straightens up, and gives me a fake smile to try and reassure me. He must know I don't believe it, but we don't say anything as Debra gets back and starts the car.

"So, Mrs. D," Iggy says, as he leans back on the seat, putting his arm on the back of my seat. "How long till we get to our new humble abode?"

"About twenty minutes."

I'm pretty sure all three of us in the backseat stiffen simultaneously. I had been asleep for three hours? I didn't even get a chance to mentally prepare myself for this!

My mind starts racing, thinking of all the things I want to say to Jeb, how much I want to punch his face. The hurt he put us through without a second thought is almost unforgivable. If he had never left, would my mother still be alive right now? There's a big chance she would be.

I space out for the rest of the car ride, and Debra pulls up to a giant, beautiful house. It's covered in khaki stone, and there's a huge porch running along the length of the house with steps leading up to it. There's also a beautiful balcony on the second story. The house looks twice as large as ours.

"At least we know you're living in good conditions," Fang says, mesmerized by the house.

I'm just getting to the trunk, thinking of the loud speech I have planned for Jeb, when I distantly hear a door open. I look up to see the one and only Jeb, standing there with a smile on his face like we're old friends.

**If you're new to reading this, welcome! :) This is my sequel, so you can go check out the first story, or you can just keep reading this... Thank you everyone for reading! Review? :)**


	2. Um, What?

**Okay guys, here's my new chapter! I hope you like it. **

I look at Jeb's face, sickened by the creepy smile he's wearing, and suddenly all the things I wanted to yell and scream at him disappear from my mind. The only thing that's left is . . . shock. I stand at the trunk with Fang, while everyone is silent, waiting to see our reaction, I guess.

While I'm too frozen to do anything, Iggy is a different story. He's standing by the car door, staring at Jeb with as much amount of hate as I'd been feeling the past few days. I can see his body tremble a bit, and I think his anger has finally boiled over.

"Kids!" Jeb says, obviously not sensing the tense atmosphere. "I haven't seen you in, what? 9 months?"

The shock suddenly washes away, and total fury fills it. I'm about to say something, but Iggy beats me to it.

"_Ten_," he says with as much annoyance and disgust as he can muster. He trembles even more. I try to gather up the strength to move, and I walk swiftly over to Iggy. I take hold of his arm, and pull back slightly, worried. I have a lot of hate towards Jeb too, but I don't want Iggy to get in some sort of fight with him. It just wouldn't end up pretty.

"Okay!" Debra says loudly, trying to defuse the tension. She walks up to Jeb and they begin talking.

I pull Iggy back and look him straight in the eye. He looks so heartbroken, so frustrated and disgusted all at the same time.

I give his hand a squeeze and say gently and quietly, "Calm down, okay? I know what you're feeling, but I don't want you to start trouble on the first day here. We're already having a terrible day as it is."

He sighs and nods a tiny nod. I release him, and walk back to Fang who is getting our suitcases out of the trunk. I don't say anything, and help him. Once we're done putting all our bags and suitcases on the ground beside the car, we hear a throat clear.

I look up, and Jeb's there. "Need any help?" He asks with a smirk.

I glare at him and leave, suitcase in hand, without answering. I hear Fang utter a "No we got it," annoyingly, and I can sense that he's behind me, walking up to the house. Iggy grabs a bag from the ground and tags along with us, trying not to be alone with Jeb.

I step up the stairs that lead to the front door. When we get to the top, we step inside the massive house. The first thing I notice is a giant stair case. The ceiling is really high with an amazing chandelier hung. To my right is a space that looks like an office, and to my left is a dining room. There are dark wooden floors all over, and the walls are a cream color. The house is beautiful to say the least.

While my eyes are taking in the magnificent place, they shift in front, where I see a pretty lady who's grinning like a madwoman.

She looks like she's in her early forties and she's got blonde hair, a straight narrow nose and high cheek bones that make her look sophisticated. Her eyes, though, are the most striking part of her face. They're dark green and they pierce, seeming to look right through you. She's wearing a lavender colored blouse with sleeves that stop a couple of inches below her elbow. She has khaki pants on with a gold chain belt and white high heels. She looks like a rich man's wife, that's for sure.

"How nice to finally meet you, Maximum," she says with a smooth voice while holding out a hand.

Her eyes pierce mine, and for some reason I'm compelled to smile at her, but I refuse. Instead I shake her hand, mumbling a quick "Hey."

She dismissively looks past me, at Fang and Iggy, and her smile grows. "Now which one of you is Iggy? There are only two of you coming, correct? I hope there hasn't been a miscommunication."

Iggy steps up and says exasperatingly, "No, I'm Iggy. That's her boyfriend."

She shakes his hand and then shakes Fang's hand. We stand there quietly while she sizes us up. I fight the urge to straighten my hair down while she looks at me expectantly.

When she finally takes her judgmental eyes off of me, she steps back, smoothes her shirt down and says, "Well it's a pleasure to meet all of you. My name is Clarissa and I'm Jeb's fiancé. It's too bad, Fang, that you must leave us. Maximum must be very distressed, but I suppose it's for the best that she –"

"Wait wait wait," I say loudly. "What do you mean, 'fiancé'?"

She looks at me and smiles, almost mockingly. "Why, you haven't heard, Maximum? Jeb and I are finally able to marry, now that he's a widower. . ."

The way she said that sentence just made all the frustration and fury that was lost come back and almost knock me out. I try to take deep breaths to calm myself. In, out. In, out.

It doesn't work.

"Oh," I say angrily. "Now that our mom's dead you get to _finally_ get married, huh? Oh, that's just perfect."

Fang gently grabs my arm to calm me down, and it does slightly.

Clarissa looks at me and goes, "Excuse me young lady, you do not speak to me like that in my own house." But something was off. She said it in a way that sounded forged, like she was faking being mad.

Her tone surprised me enough to where I couldn't even find a response to what she said, but I wouldn't have had a chance anyway.

Jeb walks in abruptly, Debra towing behind him.

"Ah," Jeb says, smiling at us. "I see you kids have met my lovely fiancé Clarissa."

Debra's eyes look like they're about to bug out when she hears this, and we share a look, but she quickly conceals her shock by saying, "Well Margret the social worker will be here any second."

Jeb nods, still smiling, and goes, "Okay then Clarissa, honey, you wouldn't mind showing the kids to their rooms, would you?"

She smiles up at Jeb and is about to reply when we hear a loud crying.

"Oh, that's just Grace!" Clarissa says cheerfully. "Let me go get her."

Fang, Iggy, and I share a startled look; I guess all of us remembered just now that they have a baby. Jeb's other kids suddenly fill my mind and I'm wondering where they're at.

I don't have time to think it over though because Jeb goes, "Come on, kids I'll show you your room."

He starts walking up the staircase while Iggy, Fang, and I follow behind grudgingly. Just looking at him makes me frustrated and hearing his voice is even worse. I honestly don't know how I'm gonna survive living here.

At the top of the stairs, to our right is a hallway with bedrooms and to the left down a hall is a huge game room or home theater, I'm not sure.

In front of me is a balcony looking over the living room. They have a giant screen TV at least 55 inches, a long khaki leather sectional, and a really nice leather chair that looks pretty expensive. To the right of the living room is the kitchen, and I can only see a bit of that, but from what it looks like, it's pretty amazing.

"Nice, isn't it?" Jeb says, smiling at all three of us admiring his house.

I stop my ogling at the house and glare at him. "Can you just show us the rooms?"

He nods, oblivious to my annoyed voice, and goes, "Well kids, we only have 5 bedrooms in this house and we use the fifth one for an office. Clarissa works at home."

"So wait," I say, letting this sink in. "Don't you have 3 kids? How are we all gonna fit?" Iggy murmurs an agreement.

He gets a worried look on his face and says, "Well we figured you, Max, can room with our daughter, Megan. Iggy, you can get our guest bedroom. We would have you room with our son Derik, but I'm afraid he isn't the best roommate."

I was kind of irked that Iggy got his own room and not me, but I guess I won't complain. All I can hope for is that I get along with this "Megan".

Iggy looks at me guiltily and says in a disgusted voice, "Well why can't Max and I just share a room? That would make more sense than her having to share with your _other_ daughter."

"No, no," Jeb says sternly. "We don't like to have mixed genders in the same room."

We all share weird looks and turn back to look at him. "Um," I say sarcastically. "In case you haven't noticed: we're twins. Brother and sister? Just sayin'."

"Regardless," He says, holding up his hand and closing his eyes. "Boys and girls shouldn't room together."

I roll my eyes with a "Whatever," and when Jeb starts to walk toward the bedrooms without a care, we follow. On our way forward, Fang looks at me with his eyes wide and an alarmed expression on his face. I guess he's worried about our new household.

He stops at the first door down the hall. "This is Max's room, along with Megan's."

He opens the door to a spacious room. The walls are a beige color, the floors are a dark hardwood like the rest of the house, and the furniture is pretty awesome. There's a closet on the right of where you walk in, and it's not that big but it seems doable with two people. Suddenly, I notice a crib in the back of the room.

"Um, what is that?" I ask suspiciously, pointing to the crib. I turn back to look at Jeb and he has a carefree expression on his face.

"Oh that? That's just Grace's crib. But don't worry. She usually sleeps in our room, but we keep another crib here just in case."

I sigh with relief. I definitely not want to have to deal with some loud baby every night. I look back at the room, studying it.

"So?" Jeb says, a genuine smile on his face. "How is it?"

It makes me sort of pissed that I actually like it so I try to mask it when I talk. "It's fine."

He smirks at me and leaves along with Iggy so he can see his room. Fang and I stay in my room so we can unpack.

Fang and I set down the suitcases we've been holding this whole time and look at the room. There are two beds, each on the opposite side of the room. I figure mine's the one with the plain bed spread, compared to the comforter with purple stars all over it, so I put my stuff down beside it.

I'm about to open my first suitcase when Fang comes up to me and brings me to his chest in a big hug. I relax into him and hug him back as hard as I can. I heave a heavy sigh and breath in his scent for the last time.

He pulls back slightly, but only to kiss me fiercely. We kiss intensely for a few minutes before the kisses turn gentle and soft. It feels amazing, but I'm also mentally freaking out about how it's the last time this will happen.

When we finally pull back, he rests his forehead on mine and whispers breathlessly, "I can't believe it's the last time we'll do that."

I sigh and grab his hands. "Come on, it's not the last time. We can see each other anytime, right?"

He looks at me worriedly and says, "I… really don't know, Max. It's a long drive down here. Most likely, I'll have to wait till summer to make a trip down here."

I was afraid I would hear that. I nod understandingly, though, and say "And I'll try to go up there whenever I can. If I can somehow get my hands on a car…"

He's about to say something when we hear a throat being cleared. We look up to see Iggy there, at the doorway, looking out of place and uncomfortable.

"Hate to break up this…goodbye, but the social worker's downstairs."

Fang and I break apart and all three of us go downstairs, me giving Iggy a pat on his arm on the way out of my new room.

**Okay, I really hope that wasn't lame. Please tell me what you thought of it in a review! :)**

**~Peace**


	3. The Children

**Hey guys! I have to say, I did not expect all the awesome feedback I got from the last chapter. Thank you so much! It means a lot! By the way, I've been working really hard at coming up with new ideas for the story; I'm working really hard to sort through them and make a good story with them. Also, in the future, I might be having some Iggy POV's. Some of you wanted it in the past, and I think it'll be appropriate for future chapters. **

Margret leaves after about an hour of talking with Jeb and Clarissa. She had seemed just fine and dandy with the fact that she had passed us onto the man that abandoned us and his secret family. I guess she just feels that she's accomplished something, when Iggy and I feel as if she's semi-ruined our life. I mean don't get me wrong, we probably would take this life before going into a foster home, split up, but it's just not right to send us back to someone who didn't want us in the first place.

Fang and Debra also leave after Margret. The goodbye is not as bad as I would've thought; we had been preparing ourselves for it the past few days. We just promise to call every night, hug and kiss, and then I watch Fang go out the door with his wonderful mom.

Now, Iggy and I are in our designated rooms, trying to unpack. I'm just putting the contents of my second suitcase into a dresser when Iggy walks in, his arms folded, with a grim expression on his face.

"How's it goin' sis?" He asks, completely serious. He walks over and sits next to me Indian-style and we both lean back against my new bed.

Sighing heavily, I say, "Fine."

He looks at me with a non-believing expression and puts his arm around me. "Ah, so _that's_ why you have that terrible frown on your face."

I glare at him even though it's true and sigh again, letting myself relax into him. This might have been awkward before Mom's death, but for some reason now I just feel comforted.

"What about you?" I ask, putting my head on his shoulder.

I can't see his face, but I can't imagine it's any good expression when he replies with, "I just… miss Mom. And Nudge. And Fang."

I can't help but let out a laugh when he says that.

"What?" he asks, his voice raising slightly. "I can't help it if it's true!"

I lift my head and look at him incredulously. "Shouldn't I be the one saying that? I _am _his girlfriend, you know."

He waves his hand at me dismissively. "Ah, that's nothing compared to what we have."

I shake my head, a grin on my face. "I hope you know you sound incredibly gay saying that."

I feel him shrug next to me and he goes, "I knew you wouldn't understand."

I'm about to respond but I'm interrupted by a "Maximum and Iggy! Come down here, now, would you?" Clarissa. What could she want? I'm not really sure how I feel about her yet but I guess I'll be able to decide soon.

I roll my eyes and get up from the ground, pulling Iggy up with me.

We walk down the stairs swiftly; Iggy did a good job of brightening my mood.

As we reach the bottom of the stairs, I notice 2 new people I haven't seen: a thin girl who has blond hair and green eyes who looks just like Clarissa, and when my eyes shift to the boy beside her, my heart beat immediately speeds up.

It's the guy from the gas station. He had looked at me creepily on the way to the cash register. I knew there was something about him! It must be his resemblance to Jeb. He looks strangely like him, even more than Iggy and I, and it freaks me out.

"Iggy, Maximum," Clarissa says, pulling me out from my thoughts of the boy in front of me. He's actually staring at me specifically, I guess remembering our encounter from the gas station.

"These are our children," Clarissa continues, gesturing to them like one of those models from "The Price is Right". I'm not even kidding. I find it pretty disturbing myself. "Derik and Megan."

I nod at them saying, "Hey," and Iggy does the same.

Clarissa stand there, glaring expectantly at her two children, and when they both get wind of her look, the young girl, Megan, comes running straight up to me.

She gives me a hug and goes, "Oh my gosh, I am so excited we're going to be rooming together! We're going to have _so_ much fun!"

I don't make a move at first, a little shocked about the hug, but then I recover and lightly pat her on the back. "Uh, yeah" I say half heartedly. "Sounds fun."

She steps back, and when I look to the guy, also known as Derik, he steps forward, a blank expression on his face, and he grabs my hand, shaking it like we're civil adults.

"Nice to meet you," he says with a deep voice as he shakes my hand.

"Nice to meet you too," I say weakly, nodding a bit at him. Clarissa's kids go through the same routine with Iggy, except Megan doesn't hug Iggy. I guess she's a little shy in front of boys. Ah, the days of being a preteen.

After they greet Iggy, the two kids stand in a perfect line, looking at their mom like perfect angels. God, what's with this place? It's like the Sound of Music.

"Okay," Clarissa says, looking at them. "Derik, I'm certain you have homework to be doing, and Megan," she looks at Megan, and a slight shadow comes across her face."You need to get on your chores."

They both respond with a, "Yes, Mother," and Clarissa nods curtly, gliding down the hallway to her room. I see Megan roll her eyes, a horribly disgusted look on her face, while Derik looks indifferent

Iggy and I look at them, startled by what we just witnessed and Derik is the first one to move. He walks swiftly between us like he has something important to do and bounds up the stairs without giving us a further look.

Megan also looks at us with a blank expression; not her super happy and excited face I had seen a few seconds ago. After about two second of studying us, she turns around on her heal and walks into the kitchen.

"…Okay then," I say, heading up the stairs. I hear Iggy follow right beside me.

"Dude!" He says in a whisper, grabbing onto my shoulder. "Did you see the way Clarissa just controlled them like that? How does that even _happen_?"

I look at him, shaking my head. "I don't know. I mean, Jeb was never strict with us. It must be her."

I continue up the stairs and head up to my room, completely weirded out.

* * *

><p>It's about two hours later when Megan finally comes into our room, with a baby in her hands. Her complete bubbly façade that I saw downstairs is gone, and her face just holds annoyance. She walks past me without a greeting, which surprised me immensely. What happened to her?<p>

"Um, hi" I say, trying to break some of the tension in the room.

She ignores me, taking the baby, Grace, putting her in the crib at the back of the room. She turns the crib mobile so the baby can fall asleep.

"Megan?" I ask cautiously after she's done. "What's—"

"Look," Megan starts with a hostile voice that completely shocks me. "If you don't mess with me, I won't mess with you, alright? I dislike this as much as you."

I look at her with a shocked expression and she just rolls her eyes. Uh, no, this is not gonna happen.

"No," I say harshly, stepping up to her. "_You_ look. We're going to have to share this room whether you like it or not. I don't want to come home every day to _this_ attitude, alright? Whatever happened to your prissy little school-girl act, anyway?"

She looks up at me and smirks, not even a little affected by my trademark glare. "Why, whatever are you talking about, Maximum?"

I look at her with wide, angry eyes, knowing she's not going to fess up to the facade. "It's Max."

She nods, smiling wider. "Hm. Well that's nice."

I shake my head, furious, and turn around to lay on my bed. I can't believe she's 12 and she's actually acting like this. Honestly, she just surprises me so much that I don't even know how to treat her. What the hell has this world come to?

"Children!" I hear a faint call from who I can only guess is Clarissa.

Megan and I walk out the door without looking at one another and walk down the stairs, where Jeb and Clarissa are standing.

When Clarissa looks right at me, I stare back at her, unable to look away. There's just something about this woman that makes you . . . not be able to look away. I think it's something about her eyes, which are bright green right now, weighing my feet down as I walk forward in front of them.

I look over at Megan to see if she's noticed anything weird, but she's just looking straight forward at her mother and father like the perfect daughter.

I roll my eyes, and Clarissa's eyes flash while she comes closer to pat me on my arm.

"Young ladies should not roll their eyes. It shows defiance." She says, holding her head high.

I scoff and look at her incredulously. "Rolling my eyes is what you call defiance? I wasn't even rolling them at you!"

I see Iggy and Derik come down stairs from the corner of my eye. I don't move my eyes away from Clarissa, though. Jeb, who's watching from behind Clarissa, watches silently without expression.

Clarissa's eyes flash angrily, not yet acknowledging the boys. The look on her face could scare a lion. "Don't talk to me that way. We will talk about this later. Right now, Jeb and I are leaving to visit a friend who lives in Kemah. We won't be back for at least a few hours, so I want you all to behave."

When she mentions the last sentence, she looks exclusively at me, her eyes grazing over me. I cross my arms over my chest and glare at her, while her kids say with sweet voices, "Yes, Mother."

They walk out the door, locking it on their way out.

Iggy and I look at each other, not really knowing what to say to the kids.

"So. . ." Iggy says awkwardly, hands in pockets. "What now?"

Derik looks at Iggy, Megan and me, smirking.

"Well," he says with a voice that sounds nothing like how he addresses his mom. "You three are gonna go upstairs while I have a party."

**So I hope you liked it. I've been kind of busy because of my online summer classes I've been taking, but the classes are about to be over, so hopefully I'll be able to update more! Expect an update in about a week. :)**

**Anyways, review?**

**~Peace**


	4. Just Read Please?

**What's up guys. I am _so_ sorry I haven't updated, but I just wanted to let you guys know that I've been pretty busy the past few days so I won't be able to update for a couple of weeks at the most. I've been getting my "Potterhead" on (such as having 2 different Harry Potter marathons, and re-reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows before the midnight premier in 2 days!), so that's mostly what I've been doing xD. **

**Also! I have started a new book blog. I've just started out, so I'm hoping it'll get better. (Btw, I have just reviewed the first book in the Maximum Ride series) The blogging site link is on my profile so go check it out! If you have a Tumblr. follow me, and I'll follow you back! :) **

**Here's my attempt at giving you the link of my book blog: flippingthroughthepages . tumblr . com. There you go. Thanks so much guys! **

**~Peace**


	5. The Party

**Hey guys! I apologize for the terrible wait! I suck, I know. -_- I've been super super busy these past weeks and I went on vacation and I'm babysitting almost everyday so it's been pretty hectic. But thank God I have finally gotten this chapter written! Enjoy it :)**

The loud thudding of the music hurts my ears as I fold the last of my clothes, organizing my dresser.

"Oh, my God," Iggy whines from where he's lying on my bed, throwing a pillow up in the air repeatedly. "Can't they turn the damn music off?"

From the corner of my eye, I see Megan glare at Iggy. She's been wordlessly taking care of Grace who is now starting to get fussy because of the loud music, I assume.

"Well then it wouldn't be much of a party, would it?" I say sarcastically, sitting back against my bed, bored beyond belief. Why couldn't there be a TV in here?

Iggy lets out a frustrated growl and gets off the bed, walking towards the bedroom door.

"Where are you going?" I ask, standing up.

"Where do you _think_ I'm going?" he responds with an annoyed tone. "Derik can't expect us to stay up here for hours while he's having fun. I'm going out there."

"You can't go out there," Megan speaks for the first time since we've been up here.

Iggy laughs and walks closer to her. "Oh yeah? What's gonna happen if I do?"

She glares at him with a freaky expression—almost as creepy as Clarissa – and goes back to Grace without another word.

Iggy rolls his eyes, not affected at all by her glare, and goes back to the door.

"Iggy," I say uncertainly just before he opens the door.

He turns around exasperatedly. "What? It's not like Derik is going to notice I'm out there. There are probably tons of people out there by the sounds of it."

Just as he says it, there's an outburst of laughter and shouting from downstairs. Iggy looks at me pointedly, smirks, and slips out the door without another word.

I sigh and sit down on the bed. I would join Iggy, but I'm not all that into house parties. I've been to one in my whole high school career and I swore I would never go to one again.

Megan and I sit there without saying a word for about twenty minutes. Iggy hasn't come back yet, and I'm just sketching a small picture of Grace in her crib when Megan finally speaks.

"Let me get her, she needs to be changed," she says, elbowing her way to Grace's crib. I lean back from where I'm sitting in front of the crib and let Megan take her, slightly disappointed. Looking at Grace, calm and quiet, gave me a sense of serenity. She has so much innocence even with a daunting mother a strange family.

Megan lays Grace down on the bed and get's the items to change her.

"Ah shit," she says with a face palm.

I glare at her and go, "You're too young to be talking like that."

"I'll talk however I want to."

I look at her hard, annoyed by her tone. "Well in case you haven't noticed, you have a half older sister. Congratulations! And I say you don't talk that way."

She gives me a hard glare, but then her expression turns snarky. "Well guess what, sissy? I left the diapers downstairs, so you have to go get them."

I look at her like she's insane, and say, "_You_ left them down there. I'm not going to get them."

Her expression turns serious, almost pleading. "I can't go down there. Derik will kill me! You have to go! You won't stand out like me."

I huff, knowing she's right. She doesn't look old enough to be a high schooler, that's for sure.

"Alright, I'll go." I say, frustrated. "But on one condition."

She sighs. "What?"

"You can't be giving me attitude with everything you say. Honestly, it gets old and I'm tired of the awkward silence."

She rolls her eyes and goes, "Fine. Now go! Grace is waiting." She points over to where Grace is lying down, playing with some keys wearing a goofy smile on her face.

The image makes me smile fondly before I walk out the door, patting down my hair. It doesn't really look like I'm dressed for a party. I'm wearing some blue pajama pants and a t-shirt that just has a picture of Mario from Super Mario 64. Oh well; I'm only going to get diapers. If only I knew where they were…

As soon as I step on the first step, I can see a bunch of teenagers hollering and laughing, holding drinks and playing beer pong on the dining room table. I walk down the steps slowly, trying to think of where diapers would be. Should I just look in Clarissa and Jeb's room?

As I walk down the stairs and into the hallway, I'm getting a lot of looks but I just keep walking, trying to think of a place Megan could've left the diapers.

I start with the front bathroom, which is unfortunately occupied. A flash of a drunken teen throwing up goes through my mind and I walk away from the bathroom, disgusted. Okay, I guess the only other place it could be is Jeb's room, which is on the other side of this giant house. I'm suddenly starting to hate this ridiculously over-sized house.

I push my way through the crowds overflowing the house and make my way through the kitchen and into the living room. The bedroom is thankfully only a few feet away when I look over at a couch and notice Derik sitting there with a beer in his hand, glaring at me. His arm is around a red-headed girl who's strikingly beautiful; let's just say I would not be surprised if she was a super-model.

Derik gets up and starts walking over to me. I roll my eyes and start over to Jeb's room, but I suddenly feel a tight grip on my arm, just above my elbow.

I look up to see Derik's annoyed face staring straight at me, his grip on my arm tightening.

"What are you doing?" he asks with an angry tone, still gripping my arm.

I glare at him hard and try to rip my arm away from his grip but he's too strong. His huge muscles visibly flex beneath his shirt and he smirks down at me. Other people around us are starting to notice what's going on, but no one intervenes.

I don't break eye contact with him and glare harder, saying in a low voice, "I had to go get diapers for _your_ sister, Derik. Not that's it's any of your business. Now let go of me." With that, I rip my arm away from his grip with all my might and it finally comes loose.

I walk away from him, glaring profusely and turn around, only to run into a hard body, and instead of me falling to the ground, the other person does. I look down to see a boy my age getting up and straightening his thin sweater.

"Are you okay?" I ask worriedly.

As he looks up, we both freeze in surprise. It's Gabe, from the art scholarship program!

"Max!" He shouts, grabbing me in a tight hug. I smile real big and hug him back. I never realized how happy I would be to see a familiar face.

"What are you doing here, in Houston?" He asks after he pulls back.

My smile diminishes and I go, "Well, I live here now."

His face turns to confusion and he's about to say something when we hear a loud shout from the front door.

My heart races as I hear: "What the hell is going on in here?" It's Jeb.

Derik, who's back on the couch, jumps up, an alarmed expression on his face, and runs to the front door. Gabe and I share a worried look and not a second later, Derik runs back into the house, shouting for everyone to leave.

I wave goodbye to Gabe as he runs out of here. I, on the other hand, run to get diapers from Jeb's room, which are thankfully stacked on their king-sized bed. The bedroom is magnificent but I don't have any time to admire it. I run outside the bedroom, noticing there's still people trying to get out of the house, and try to make it up the stairs before Jeb or Clarissa see's me. I'm just up the first step when someone grabs my arm forcefully and pulls me back down.

I look up to see Clarissa, glaring at me, and she drags me down forcefully to where Iggy and Derik are waiting, standing in front of Jeb.

It's complete silence as Clarissa finally lets go of me and I hit against Iggy a little, rubbing my arm. Her grip was even worse than Derik's was a few minutes ago.

All three of us look up at the adults and await our fates like three little shaking Chihuahuas.

**Honestly I really didn't like this chapter, but I just wanted to get it over with. My school year starts in almost 2 weeks, so I honestly don't know when I'll have a new chapter out, but please just review and tell me what you thought of the chapter. Tell me what you want to happen in the next chapter.**

** Thanks guys, have a great day. **

**~Peace :D**


	6. Note

Hey guys! I am very sorry this is not a chapter(obviously these authors notes are getting too frequent), but I wanted to let you guys know that I will sadly not be able to update in a while… I've been buried in summer homework and school starts in a week. I may be getting homework right when I get to school from my AP classes, so I am apologizing in advance for not updating!

Also, I only got 9 reviews last chapter, which is pretty abnormal for this story, and I was wondering if people were getting tired of the story? Just wondering.

Lastly, I have my book blog up and running! I post reviews about different books and book recommendations. On my blog profile, you can Instant message me or leave me a message so you can certainly talk to or ask me a question there at any time. Here's the sort-of link:

flippingthroughthepages(dot)tumblr(dot)com

Thanks so much guys for reading!


	7. Deadly Woman

**I'm sorry. This entire school year has been too hectic to update. I became president of Key Club at my school and AP classes equals stress and no time! Luckily I am on Spring Break so I can update!**

"I can see whose fault this really is," Clarissa says threateningly as she paces in front of us.

Iggy, Derik, and I are standing side by side, awaiting her joyous idea of whose fault it is. But I can't say I have a good feeling about this.

She stops in front of me and stares me down. "You!" she shouts and grabs my arm.

"What?" I ask, incredulous. "I had nothing to do with this!"

"I don't want to hear it, you little bi—"

"She didn't do it!" Iggy shouts, cutting her off. "How the hell would she put a party together? She doesn't know anyone here!" He's using his "you moron" voice.

Clarissa turns to Iggy without letting go of me and glares. She's about to say something when Iggy cuts her off again.

"Right, Derik?" He says, looking at Derik expectantly. Derik is standing there, looking forward with a smirk on his face.

He looks at his mother with a suddenly angelic smile on his face. "I have no idea what they're talking about, mom. People were here when I walked out of my room."

Clarissa tightens her grip on my arm – as if that's even possible – and drags me down the hallway.

"What the hell are you doing?" I ask, frantically trying to get away from her. I hear Iggy shouting from behind me before Jeb makes him go to his room.

"This will teach you what not to do in my house, young lady." She raises her hand, and for a second I think she's going to hit me, but then she opens a door to a hallway closet.

The deadly woman shoves me in the closet and shuts the door without another word. It's completely dark and I look around in confusion. Then I hear what sounds like a flick of a lock.

It finally clicks. This is how she punishes her children. Locking them up in a closet. Although it doesn't cause physical harm, I've read that these types of punishments can cause emotional trauma. It's freaking barbaric.

Once my eyes adjust, I notice a small chair on the right side of the closet. There's not much else inside the closet that I can see. I sit in the seat, lay my head back, and wait for this living hell to be over.

For what seems like thirty or so minutes in, I start having flashbacks of being kidnapped. Me being in that warehouse for so long. It's almost the same thing. I raise my knees to my chest and try not to cry. To distract myself I try thinking of Fang and the fun we have had together. Unfortunately the flashbacks keep coming.

The door is opened and I jump up, squinting slightly at the invading light.

"Your time is done," Clarissa says, smirking slightly. "You're lucky you're new here; if this were any other day, you'd be in there four times longer than that."

I give her the hardest glare I can muster and run past her. I had just run up the stairs when Iggy comes out from the bathroom, yawning.

His eyes widen as he sees me. "What the hell happened? You look like hell."

"Do you have any idea what she does as a 'punishment'?" I ask frantically, making quotations with my fingers. "She locks us in a closet. A fucking closet like we're some kind of criminal."

"Oh my God," Iggy says, and he grabs me in a long hug. "Are you okay? You're shaking."

I didn't notice until he said that.

A whimper escapes me and he hugs me tighter. I try to choke back my tears as best as I can but a few still escape. "It wouldn't be that bad…except that I couldn't stop thinking about the kidnapping and…"

I didn't have to say more than that. He keeps me in that position for a few minutes. I don't even care how pathetic I'm being.

I hear a deep chuckle behind me. I break out of Iggy's embrace and turn to see Derik smirking at us.

"You think that's the worst they can do to you? Sweetheart, you're in for a rude awakening."

I glare at him and am about to yell at him for calling me sweetheart but then I realize what he means.

"What are you talking about?" I ask worriedly.

Derik shakes his head. "Oh, nothing."

With that, he walks back into his room.

* * *

><p>I'm lying in my unfamiliar bed with my blanket up to my chin, trying to make sense of what happened tonight. It's pitch dark in the room and Megan and I have been lying in silence for the past hour.<p>

"How often does she do that?" My voice is shaky in the silent room.

"Anytime you feel like pissing her off," Megan says. Her voice is monotone. "I pretty much learned not to do anything when she's around."

I shake my head, disgusted. How could a mother do something like this? Locking a child up in a room like a fucking prisoner.

"Well I'm telling you," I spit out. "She's not gonna be doing that to me ever again."

Megan gives a humorless chuckle. "And how the hell do you expect to get out of it? As long as you disobey her, she'll trap you in there like a rat whenever she pleases."

I roll my eyes. "Haven't you seen her? She's tiny. I could get past her any day."

I see Megan stare at me from her bed, incredulous. "You don't think I've tried that? Don't you know anything about her? She's a Marine veteran."

I stare back at her, shocked. A marine? What the heck. No wonder her grip was so freaking strong.

I stuff my pillow onto my face and shake my head. "Apparently the social workers forget to tell us these facts."

She gives yet another chuckle and I turn around, facing the wall and try to fall asleep. There's only a few hours until I have to get up for my new school. Joy.

Megan's worried voice startles me awake.

"She's going to do it to Grace, too."

I'm quiet, not sure what to say. It's the first time she's sounded vulnerable since I've been here.

I hear her heave a heavy depressed sigh as her bed creaks. It's the last thing I hear before drifting to sleep.

**I hope this is alright. I realize it's not a so-called "happy" or "positive" chapter, but don't worry. The next chapter should be fun. I promise to try and update as soon as I can. Hopefully I'll get in another chapter before Spring Break is over. **

**Can you please review and tell me what you think? :)**


	8. New School

**Another chapter! I hope everyone likes it. **

Megan wakes me up in what seems like seconds. I look at the clock and groan. It's 7am. School starts in exactly one hour.

I get ready for school, putting on a Queen t-shirt, jeans, and black converse. I straighten my hair and put on a little bit of make-up; I figure I might as well look presentable on my first day.

Megan leaves for her middle school without so much as a goodbye.

Iggy and I share a look before Derik storms out of his room and goes, "Let's go. Apparently I have to take you losers to school." He's clad in his bad-boy leather jacket and jeans.

I roll my eyes and follow Derik down the stairs.

After Jeb practically shoves money into my hand for lunch, we get into Derik's 4-door Ford truck and we're off to school.

The drive to the school would be silence, except for the fact that Derik blasts his hardcore scream-o music the entire way there.

After he parks the car, I pat him on the shoulder with a sarcastic, "thanks, bro" and drag Iggy to the front of the school.

"Where are we going?" Iggy whines.

I roll my eyes. "The front office, retard. We have to get our schedules. Hurry up!" I pull on his arm.

I just want to get this day over with.

I look up at the school for the first time. It's gigantic. Way bigger than my old school. The whole front of the school is covered in giant windows that make it look pretty.

I feel a tap on my shoulder and I realize that I've been standing there, Iggy in hand, with my eyes bulging out of my head. I look to my right. Oh, joy.

Derik is smirking at me. "Welcome to hell away from hell, sis!" I glare at the back of his head as he walks away.

_This is going to be great_, I think sarcastically as I start roughly dragging Iggy into the school.

* * *

><p>It's lunch time. Finally. So far I've been to four of my classes and I've met a few nice people. I haven't really hit it off with anyone though.<p>

I look around and I see Iggy a few yards away. I run up to him, sit down, and say, "Hey, how's your first day? I'm surprised we haven't had any classes together yet! Let me see your schedule!"

He doesn't respond immediately so I look up and I'm surprised to see about seven guys staring at me. Some of them are smirking and the others are just looking at me like I'm an idiot.

"Uh, Max," Iggy says uncomfortably, "this is Keith, Phil, Ed, Chase, Damien, Steven, and Drew. I met them earlier today."

"Oh," I say, embarrassed. "Hi."

They all nod. It's awkward silence for a few seconds. I suddenly feel like I'm intruding on them.

I get up and say, "So I guess I'll talk to you later. Nice to meet you guys." I turn around and walk away feeling ultra uncomfortable and awkward. What the heck was all that about?

"Max!" I look to my right and see none other than Gabe strolling towards me. I almost forgot that he was at the party last night.

I smile at him. "Hey!"

"Do you want to come sit with us? There's an empty seat and Amie is over there too."

I was relieved. I thought I was going to have to eat lunch by myself, or better yet, in the bathroom like some scene from an after school special.

"Sure," I say and follow him over to his table where I see a group of his friends.

"Hey Amie," Gabe says. "Look what I have."

Amie looks up and immediately squeals, causing all of their friends and everyone in the immediate area to look up. She gets up and runs to me, causing her curly black hair to fly everywhere, giving me the biggest hug.

"Oh, my gosh, Max!" She yells. "I'm so happy to see you! Gabe told me he saw you last night."

"I'm happy to see you too!" I say. "Yeah, it looks like I'm going here now."

She smiles hugely. "This is going to be great! Come sit down."

I sit down and smile at their friends.

"This is Tad, Ethan, Eli, Sophie, and Brad." I recognize a couple of them from my classes. They're all good-looking kids.

I nod at all of them and unlike Iggy's apparent new friends, they all greet me once Amie says their name.

"So," Gabe says as he sits next to me. "Why'd you move down here, anyway?"

My smile goes down slightly but I quickly say, "Oh, I'm just living with my dad now."

Gabe is about to talk again, but instead Ethan says, "Let me see your schedule to see if we have any classes together."

I smile, grateful for the subject change, and hand over my schedule. Everyone looks at it, commenting on whether the teachers are good or not and if they have a certain class with me.

Gabe has two classes with me, both in the afternoon. Amie just has one which is my next class. A few of the others have classes with me as well. I'm glad I have people to talk to in my classes.

I quickly learn that Tad and Eli are the goofy people in the group, while Sophie is the quiet one. Amie is definitely the most outgoing and Brad is sarcastic but funny.

By the way they act, I can tell Sophie and Brad are a couple. It's cute but it also makes me miss Fang.

When they ask if I have any siblings, I nod and point to Iggy who's still sitting across the cafeteria with his group of friends.

"He's my twin," I say. When I turn back around I see a few of them have a worried look on their face.

"What?" I ask, although I can guess what they're going to say.

"Oh it's nothing!" Amie reassures me quickly. "That group he's with is just..."

Gabe finishes for her. "Rough. They've, uh, been involved in things, that's all."

"What things?" I ask. I can't have Iggy being friends with the wrong people.

"Oh, it's nothing," Tad says, waving his hand dismissively. "Nothing criminal or anything. They're just the school pranksters. Now that," He points to a group walking to the doors. "Is the group you want to look out for. They're no good."

I get a better look at them. They all have leather jackets on. One of them turns around. It's Derik. We lock eyes and he smirks. I roll my eyes and turn around.

"What was that about?" Tad asks worriedly.

"He's my step-brother," I say grudgingly.

I see a few of them share looks. Oh, great.

I'm about to ask about that when the bell rings to go to 5th period. I get up, letting Amie lead the way to our art class.

The rest of the day goes well. I like pretty much all of my teachers and I also get to talk to Gabe, Ethan and Sophie in my other classes. My new school life is looking up.

Gabe and Amie take me home since Derik and Iggy aren't outside when school lets out.

When I get home, the only person there is Megan. She's in the living room playing with Grace. I go to the kitchen to get a snack.

"How was school?" I ask Megan, trying to be pleasant. I'm hoping our relationship will get better.

"Fine." Her eyes are on Grace, who is playing with some fake keys. She seems really protective over her.

"Hey, who takes care of Grace while everyone is at work?" I ask curiously.

"The nanny. She goes home when I get here."

"Oh. That makes sense." I go into the living room and sit down with them. I look at the clock. It's 3:00. My old school gets out at 3:30. That's thirty minutes until I can talk to Fang! I've been missing him all day.

After an episode of That 70's Show, I finally look at the clock and smile big. 3:30. I run up to my room to Skype with Fang.

After waiting ten minutes for him to get home, he's finally online.

I immediately start a video chat with him.

"Max!" Fang shouts with a huge grin on his face.

I smile, truly happy for the first time since I've moved.

**How did you like it? Review please. :)**


	9. Skype

Even though it's only been a couple of days since I've see Fang, his face is the best thing I've seen since I've been here. That's pretty sad, I know.

"I miss you," I say miserably, not caring if he makes fun of me for it.

He sighs, frowning a little. "I miss you too. How's the family over there?"

My smile immediately goes down, and he notices. His face is filled with worry.

"Um. Let's just say it's not home-sweet-home here," I say, trying to downplay everything.

"Why?" He asks, wanting answers.

I sigh. I don't want him to get worked up over everything. If he finds out about the closet punishment thing, he'll be on his way over here in a second. And he won't be able to do anything about it; Jeb or Clarissa will send him straight back to Dallas.

I decide to play it safe. "Jeb is alright, Clarissa is just not that pleasant. Same with Derik. He's trouble, I can definitely tell that. Megan, at first, was a complete jerk, but I think she's warmed up to me a bit. She seems lonely in this house."

He nods understandingly. "Clarissa did seem weird when I was there. As for Derik. Just…stay away from him. That's all I can say."

He looks helpless. I know he wishes he was here. But he knows I can take care of myself.

"Well anyway," he says helplessly, changing the subject. "How's school over there?"

I shrug. "It's alright. I mean, I did meet some good people but it will be nothing like Dallas."

He nods understandingly. "Hey, at least you met some people. It could be worse."

"Yeah," then I remembered something. "Oh! You should see the guys Iggy was hanging out with. They're total jerks from the looks of it." I knew I shouldn't be judging them like that, but what can you expect when someone looks at you like you're a total dumbass?

Fang gets an alarmed look on his face. "What do you mean? He's not getting in with the wrong crowd, right?"

This is exactly what I'm worried about. "Eh, I don't know," I say uncertainly. "I mean they sure look like they're no good by the way they were looking at me, but my friend said they were fine. Just pranksters."

"Why, what way were they looking at you?" He says, his tone angry.

"Calm down, boy!" I say in a sarcastic way. "It's nothing! They just didn't look nice, that's all."

He seems to calm down. I think he was worried that they were looking at me like they were _too_ nice.

"Oh, okay," he says, relieved.

I smirk at him. "Aww, was little Fangy worried about me?" I say this like I'm talking to a child.

He rolls his eyes, but I see a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

"_Anyway_," he says. "Well, look, about the Jeb's family thing. Call me anytime they bother you, okay? I know you probably already knew that was open, but seriously. If you need to just let off some steam or anything, just call me and anytime of night I'll be there, okay?"

I smile at him and nod, wonderfully grateful that I have such an amazing boyfriend.

We continue talking, catching up with each other and things at my old school. We make a promise to text throughout the day and Skype once a night. Maybe this long-distance thing could really work for us.

After about an hour of us talking, Megan comes in the room and sets Grace down in her crib.

Fang, seeing Megan, raises his eyebrows and gives me a look that says _good luck_.

"Hey, I gotta go, but I'll talk to you later," he says.

I smile sadly and say, "Alright. Text me."

We say goodbye and log off.

I turn around to see Megan looking at me. Grace is quietly sleeping.

"What's up?" I say uncertainly.

She shrugs. "Was that your boyfriend?"

I nod at her. "Why?"

She shrugs again and I turn around getting my books out of my backpack to start on my homework. Sadly, I still get homework despite being the new girl.

I hear the door shut downstairs so I get up to see who it is. It's Iggy, finally home from school.

"Where have you been?" I ask suspiciously from the stairs. He looks up with a sheepish grin.

"At Drew's house. You should meet the guys. They're fun."

I give him a deadpanned look. "I met them today. Remember? Lunch? Awkwardness?"

"Oh, right," he says and starts walking to the kitchen. I go downstairs and follow him. "Yeah, uh, sorry about that. You just took me off guard."

"Hmm," I mumble. "What's with them, anyway? They looked at me like I was a freak."

He shrugs and looks at me. "I don't know. They're a pretty tight-knit group. Maybe they just don't like outsiders. Except me."

I roll my eyes but go, "Aw, is my Iggy fitting in? I knew you could do it!" I reach up and pinch his cheeks with a grin on my face.

He smacks my hand away but laughs anyway.

"What a touching scene." I turn to see Derik and his group of friends smirking at me. What makes him want to mess with us? We didn't even do anything to him.

I roll my eyes and swiftly walk to the stairs, pushing my way through the group. I feel their eyes on me as I walk away but ignore it. I definitely don't trust any of them; it's best just to ignore them and not get involved with any drama.

**Please review. I need reviews to know that people are reading this and if not that many people are interested, I'm considering not continuing the story. Just let me know what you think. Still tell me what your suspicions are with everything though! I'm curious.**

**P.S. if I continue the story, I'll be doing Iggy's POV starting soon.**


	10. Vote?

Wow. I'm…just. **Sorry.** No other words to explain it. Sigh. I really hope you guys are still interested in this. Should I continue this story? There's a poll on my profile. **Please vote.** Thank you so much guys and I'll explain why I've been so freaking mean on my next update if I get enough votes.

Peace~


	11. New Opportunity

**Hello readers! It's been so long. I apologize. I've been so FREAKIN busy. So I got more votes than I thought I would get so I decided to continue the story! I immediately started writing and as you can see gave you a nice chapter. Enjoy!**

"AHHHHHhhhhhhh!"

Everyone at our lunch table jumps simultaneously at the sound of Amie's loud shriek. I look up just in time to see her sleek black curls bouncing up and down with every clickity-clackity step towards our table. The hot-mess sight makes me want to giggle.

"Dammit, Amie, shut the hell up!" Gabe shouts, throwing down his spoon angrily.

This time I do giggle, causing Gabe to give me a playful glare. I stick my tongue out at him, enjoying my good mood.

It's been a week since Iggy and I have moved into the retched mansion we forcefully now call home. Although I'm thoroughly missing my friends from Dallas, I have been getting really close to my new friends here. The school actually isn't all that bad.

Luckily, I've been able to avoid Clarissa every day except the occasional nightly dinners. Of course what I call dinners are actually thirty minutes of eating the best meals ever (made by Clarissa's cook of course), avoiding all eye contact, listening to the adults attempt to make conversation with their two children, who actually hate them as much as Iggy and I do. I learned this through a conversation Megan and I had a few days ago.

"Were Clarissa and Jeb ever good parents?" I had asked Megan, trying to divert a thought of my dead mother.

"Jeb was. When he first moved here." Her response was empty, saddened. I don't want to know what it was like for her living here her entire life. A brother who doesn't care, an abusive mom, and a baby to take care of? It sounds like hell for a twelve year old.

"What happened?"

She shrugs, rocking Grace back and forth. "What do you think? Anyone who has to live with a bitch like Clarissa would lose their happiness eventually."

That had been a good enough answer for me.

But all of the terrible things that go on at that horrid house is out of my head when Amie stands in front of our table, hair wildly out of place, breathing hard.

"What happened?" Sophie asks worriedly. One of the things I liked about this new group of friends is how different they are from my other friends in Dallas. Sophie is the kind, caring one in our group. She can also be a bit of a worry wart.

Gabe is about to complain further when Amie cuts him off.

"William Morris just asked me to prom!"

She and Sophie both start squealing like 5 year olds while all the guys roll their eyes, disgusted.

"Who's William Morris?" I ask, causing both of the girls to whip their heads straight at me with a scary look in their eyes.

"No no please don't get them started!" Tad whines, placing his head on the table.

The other guys have similar reactions.

"Good job, Max, dear God." Gabe also shouts, pushing me.

I look around me, confused. "What? What the hell did I do?"

Amie scoffs, sitting in her usual seat across from me. "Don't listen to them, they're just jealous."

The guys groan in unison, Tad giving her a dirty look. She gives him a mock glare and then turns back to me.

"I cannot believe you've been here a whole week and still do not know who Will Morris is! He's only, like, the hottest, most popular guy in the school!"

That last tidbit of information immediately made me roll my eyes. "Oh dear God."

Both of the girls widen their eyes at me. "What?"

Gabe laughs and fist bumps me. "Finally a girl who isn't swooned by that douche bag. I'm so tired of hearing about him." He makes a high-pitched voice. "Ohmigosh William Morris, like, texted me and then asked me to prom! AHHHHHHHH!"

I laugh along with the guys and Sophie.

"I don't sound like that!" Amie screams. "Besides, Max just isn't _swooned_ because she hasn't seen him yet. Just wait, Max. Just wait."

I roll my eyes.

Sophie gasps. "Look! Speak of the devil."

I look to where she's pointing. A group of very attractive teenagers are standing next to the door of the cafeteria. There are two guys, one of which is throwing a football up in his hands, and the other has his arm around a girl. I notice the girl from the house party that Derik threw the first night we got to the house. She, I have to admit, is very pretty. She could easily be an A-list star just by her looks.

"Which one?" I ask curiously.

Sophie, still staring at the gorgeous group, says "The one with the girl."

I think I hear wrong but I see Gabe nod with a look that says "Them girls are crazy."

I look back to get a better look and the guy _is_ hot. He has dirty blonde hair and just enough facial hair to make you wonder if he's a carpenter but not quite. A little more than 5 o'clock shadow. His looks would make any girl drool.

Apparently, my liking shows on my face because the next thing I hear is Amie going, "I told you so! No girl can resist" to Gabe.

I quickly look back at the table to see Gabe giving me a shameful look.

I roll my eyes. "Okay calm down you guys anyone can see he's good-looking. It doesn't mean I'm going to fall madly in love with him and go to prom with him when he _clearly_ has a girlfriend. What's up with that anyway?"

Amie's quick to defend herself. "Okay, this is just a date. It's not like I'm going to marry him or something!"

I give her a no-nonsense look.

She sighs. "Well his girlfriend Bridget wanted them to go to prom separately because she doesn't want to be tied down on prom day. She wants to dance with whoever she wants. So Will got to choose a date and he chose me." She says this last sentence with a sparkle in her eye.

I look at her like she's crazy. "What the hell? Amie! First of all, why would you be okay with this because clearly your mental health is off in some way. Second of all, since when is a girl going to let her boyfriend go to prom with another girl? This is not going to end well."

"Thank you." Gabe says, shaking his head. "That guy is a douche bag. Don't you realize what he's trying to do?" He directs this at Amie.

I know what he's trying to do. He's trying two score two girls in one night. I've never even met this guy and I already know he's an asshole.

She rolls her eyes. "Whatever guys, I'm honored to be chosen by the hottest guy in school, who is a year older than us by the way, to go to prom! No one can ruin this for me, okay?" After this, she stalks off. Sophie hurries after her.

Gabe turns back to me, shaking his head. "Don't worry about her. She has little tantrums every once in a while. She'll get over it."

I sigh, turning back to my food dejectedly. "Why would she do this? I mean sure he's hot but I would never agree to being his date while he has a girlfriend. He's shady."

Gabe nods but goes, "Yeah but I mean it's her decision. I've tried to talk sense into her a few times but she won't listen. If she gets screwed over, it's her fault."

I've grown accustomed to Gabe and Amie's relationship. Even though they're twins like Iggy and I, they are certainly not as close.

So I shrug and let it go. Gabe is right. We can't really do anything about Amie's choice.

Gabe lightly pushes my shoulder. "But hey, on a lighter note, how do you like art class?"

I smile slightly and nod. "I really like it. The art department at my old school is not nearly advanced as yours. I've already learned a lot."

"That's great! But hey, I've seen your work and I have kind of a proposition for you." I look up at him and he's kind of smiling mischievously. "How would you feel about working in an art studio with me? My friend owns it. You'll get paid and everything."

I look at him with surprise, thinking he's playing some kind of joke on me. But he seems completely genuine. The thought of being somewhere else besides that horrible house sounds awesome. And I'll get paid doing something I love.

I quickly smile and go, "That sounds awesome! What do we do there?"

He looks incredibly happy about my approval. "Well, we hold art classes for seniors and children. You'll be in charge of the children's classes. How does that sound?"

I'm not sure how I feel about teaching a bunch of kids art but honestly I need something to do during the day after school. I'm tired of going back to the house from school and just waiting for Fang to get on Skype.

"Dude, you have no idea how awesome that sounds," I say to Gabe. He chuckles and gives me a high five. "But what about Amie? She's good at art. Why doesn't she get the job?"

Gabe rolls his eyes. "She's too worried about getting a date from Will asshole Morris. She, quote, doesn't have time for a job, unquote." He rolls his eyes a second time.

"Okay then, I guess I'm getting a job," I say happily.

Gabe nods and goes, "Sweet! So how about I take you over to the studio to see how it is? I'll introduce you to Jarrod, the owner. He'll be excited I finally hired someone."

I agree but the bell rings, cutting our conversation short. I leave the cafeteria, excited for what this job can do for me.

* * *

><p>Jarrod's Wild Art Shop is a small but stylish art studio about ten minutes away from my new house. I make a mental note that I can always walk here if I can't get a ride from Gabe.<p>

By the front of the building, you can definitely tell it's an art studio. There's a huge mural of a Chinese dragon flying through a night sky on the windows of the building. The work is beautiful. It must have taken weeks to do this.

"Awesome, right?" Gabe asks from my right as I gaze at the intricate art.

I nod, speechless. Gabe chuckles and pushes me towards the door.

"Come on, I'll introduce you."

Gabe and I walk into a brightly lit room that has about twenty large art desks spread across the room. There's a standalone dry erase board in the front of the classroom along with tons of artwork scattered across all 4 walls. I can't even tell what color the room is.

Gabe leads me through the classroom into a back room that looks like an office. A man, presumably Jarrod, is turned around in his office chair, working on a large poster upon an easel.

"Hey man, what's up?" Gabe says, causing Jarrod to turn around swiftly.

You wouldn't know by the looks of this guy that he owned a legit business. He looks like he's still in college. He's wearing a baggy shirt that has paint splatters all over it and skinny jeans. I suddenly am not as intimidated as I was earlier.

"Hey dude," he stops short when he looks at me. "Whoa whoa whoa, who's _this_, hmm? Came to introduce your new girlfriend?" Jarrod gives a sly grin and elbows Gabe in the ribs.

Gabe and I roll our eyes simultaneously. "Dude calm down. Is this a way to greet your new employee?"

Jarrod makes a face like an "o" and goes, "Oh, sorry. Hi there, I'm Jarrod!" He shakes my hand.

I smile at him. "Hey. You've got a nice place here."

"I know!" He exclaims. "And thanks so much for the help. You won't regret it. I assume Gabe told you what you'd be doing?" Without waiting for an answer from me, he continues talking animatedly. "You'll be teaching the kids from 4pm to 6pm every Tuesday and Thursday. On other days, you can help sell art supplies. It's pretty laid-back around here. I don't really do schedules. As long as you're here for your class and then part of the rest of the week, I don't really care. You get paid by the hour."

I nod, surprised but pleased. I could really get used to this.

The guys finish showing me around the art studio. The back portion of the building is the store part where we sell art supplies. The front is the classroom that has a supply and wash room on the side of it. Lastly, there is a basement that has the big supplies like extra easels, desks, pottery equipment and a big couch and vending machine which is where us employees can hang out.

It turns out there's only one more employee who works here, who is another college student named Brandon. I wasn't thrilled at the thought of only working with a bunch of guys but I figure Gabe is already one of my best friends in Houston and Jarrod seems nice enough.

"Hey, you ready to go?" Gabe asks when we're done working out my employment. It turns out I start immediately.

"Mhm!" I say happily and after a quick wave to Jarrod, we're on our way to my still-new home.

**Please review and tell me what you think!**

**OK, I have a hunch about what about 80% of you will say: "where's the fax, I want Fax, FAX FAX FAX!" **

**Yeah, well. I'll try to pack some in in the next chapter. **

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